Synopsis

A provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Controversy over Christ's Resurrection: Historical Event or Symbol?2. "One God, One Bishop": The Politics of Monotheism3. God the Father/God the Mother4. The Passion of Christ and the Persecution of Christians5. Whose Church Is the "True Church"?6. Gnosis: Self-Knowledge as Knowledge of God

Conclusion

Elaine Pagels

About Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University and the author of Reading Judas, The Gnostic Gospels-winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award- and the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Praise|Awards

Praise

"The first major and eminently readable book on gnosticism benefiting from the discovery in 1945 of a collection of Gnostic Christian texts at Nag Hammadi in Egypt." --The New York Times Book Review

Awards

WINNER 1979 National Book Critics Circle AwardsWINNER 1980 National Book Awards